Unions Seize on Immigration Debate

Labor unions are throwing their political muscle behind lawmakers' efforts to overhaul immigration regulations, with the hope that organizing immigrant workers can swell unions' shrinking ranks.

ENLARGE

When one car wash in Los Angeles unionized, its workers saw benefits improve. One worker, Manuel Aguilar, saw his weekly pay double and he was able to move into a bigger house. Here, he washes a car Monday.
Mae Ryan for The Wall Street Journal

The Service Employees International Union plans to spend millions of dollars on advertising, rallies and letter-writing campaigns to lawmakers in support of an overhaul. On Tuesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other labor leaders are set to meet with President Barack Obama on immigration, along with chief executives from companies including Coca-Cola Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Union leaders see immigrant workers—particularly newly legalized ones who might become more likely to join—as a bright spot that could safeguard their future amid public-sector budget constraints and a trend toward weakening collective-bargaining rights. The percentage of all wage and salary U.S. workers in a union, at 11.3%, is roughly half what it was 30 years ago.

Behind the push is a fundamental shift in the demographics of unions. Hispanic union membership jumped 21% over the past 10 years while white membership fell nearly 13%, according to figures from the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

ENLARGE

Andrew Reyes washes cars in a car wash in South Los Angeles Monday.
Mae Ryan for The Wall Street Journal

While the shift is partly the result of the bulging U.S. Latino population over that time, it also reflects a changing U.S. job market. Manufacturing jobs that formed the bedrock of unions have gone overseas or become nonunion. Left to replace many of them are low-paying but growing service jobs in health care and retail that attract immigrants.

The union efforts come as Mr. Obama and a bipartisan group of senators are pushing for a bill that would provide a straightforward path to citizenship for the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. Nearly three-quarters of them are active in the labor force, estimates show. Tens of thousands of them already belong to unions, labor experts say.

Immigration Law in America

The government doesn't track how many undocumented workers belong to unions, and many get jobs by using false Social Security numbers. Unions don't ask workers their status.

But many undocumented workers avoid joining unions "because they are under constant threat of deportation," said Ana Avendano, head of the AFL-CIO's immigration and community-action program.

To be sure, it remains unclear whether the legislation will have sufficient support, particularly in the House, to pass. Conservative lawmakers and their supporters have long contended that giving legal status to people who broke the law to come to this country is unacceptable amnesty. They argue that any border-security measures included in the bill will never come to pass.

"When you legalize those who are in the country illegally, it costs taxpayers millions of dollars, costs American workers thousands of jobs and encourages more illegal immigration," Rep. Lamar Smith (R., Texas) said.

ENLARGE

A potential sticking point is how to craft a program to bring in low-skilled foreigners for jobs, as unions worry that an influx of workers could depress wages and take jobs from Americans. Labor officials want the overhaul bill to focus more on keeping out criminals than those seeking work in farms or factories.

Gaining legal status "would make it much easier for these workers to join together and improve their working conditions by joining a union," said Eliseo Medina, secretary-treasurer of the SEIU, who labeled passage of immigration legislation as the union's top priority this year.

The SEIU has organized immigrants in cities including Houston and Los Angeles with the promise of wage increases, paid personal days and vacation. About one-fourth of SEIU's 2.1 million members are Hispanic, including many Latin American immigrants. Most are legal residents or U.S. citizens, according to Mr. Medina, who said many are janitors, security guards or health-care aides.

"Among the first questions we get from immigrants who are undocumented is, 'If I join, will it get me in trouble?' " said Neidi Dominguez, coordinator for the Clean Carwash Campaign in Los Angeles, an effort backed by the AFL-CIO to unionize car washers.

About five years ago, the federation joined with local community groups mobilizing to improve working conditions for car washers, mainly immigrants sometimes paid less than the hourly minimum wage and largely relying on tips. The campaign is pushing car-wash owners to sign accords that guarantee minimum wage, ensure worker safety and give meal and rest breaks.

Los Angeles has about 500 car washes that employ roughly 10,000 workers, most of them Latin Americans believed to be unlawfully in the country. Three car washes have signed union contracts, and employees are now members of the local United Steelworkers union.

"As immigrants who lack documents, we often accept being underpaid because we feel vulnerable," said Manuel Aguilar, a 51-year-old who has washed cars since emigrating from El Salvador in 1994.

Since his employer signed a union contract a year ago, Mr. Aguilar says his weekly pay has doubled to $600 a week. He also gets breaks, free drinking water and working gear. Thanks to the raise, he recently moved with his wife and two children from a one-bedroom apartment to a two-bedroom house, which he also rents.

"With papers, more of us will want to join the union," said Oscar Sanchez, 35, who works at the same car wash. "We won't fear deportation."

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